Seating pad



Dec. 14, 1965 N- GRIMSHAW 3,222,695 I SEATING PAD Filed Oct. 21, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvcu'roz. IYORMJN KM/GI! Dec. 14, 1965 Filed 001;. 21, 1963 N. GRIMSHAW SEATING PAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wig: 8.

IIVEN GR.

arr-Yrs United States Patent w 3,222,696 SEATING PAD Norman Grimshaw, Ashton-under-Lyne, England, assignor to Vitafoam Limited, Middleton, Lancashire, England, a company of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man Filed Oct. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 317,646 6 Claims. (Cl. -455) This invention concerns a seating pad by which term is meant motor vehicle seating, household seating, for internal and external use, bedding and the like, and also rail, sea and aircraft seating.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a seating pad which is relatively easily produced, is comfortable in use, and is capable of being easily attached to the framework of an article of furniture.

According to the present invention a seating pad includes a unitary moulded resilient platform having at spaced intervals around its periphery a plurality of at tachment points, there being on one face of the platform at least a pad of foamed material, the pad at least and part of the platform being covered by a sheet or sheets of plain, coloured, or patterned material such as a polyvinyl chloride material or other thermoplastic weldable material held in position by welding.

Preferably the platform is produced, by a single mould ing and curing operation, and is provided with spaced apart integral outwardly projecting tongues each having secured therein, during the moulding and curing operation, rigid reinforcing members, the tongues being adapted to be provided with attachment hooks or the like whereby the unit may be attached under tension to the framework of an article of furniture.

In one form the platform is initially of such a size that the tongues lies within the boundary of the pad, the tongues, when the unit is attached under tension to the framework of the article of furniture extending to the edges of the pad.

Preferably there are two sheets of material, such as polyvinyl chloride, a first sheet lying below the platform relative to the pad, and a second sheet extending over the pad to overlie the edge regions of the first sheet, the two sheets being welded together at least around that part of the platform between the tongues.

Preferably the platform is apertured so that the sheets may be welded together at spaced intervals over their surface area to give the effect of quilting or fiuting to the unit as a whole.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an underneath perspective view, with parts cut away, of one form of seating pad,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of part of the pad of FIG. 1 taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modification of the pad of FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a part sectional view taken along the line IVIV of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is an underneath perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of a further modification,

FIG. 6 is a part sectional view taken along the lines VIVI of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view from the underside of part of a still further modification,

FIG. 8 is a section taken along the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 7, and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are part sectional views of further modifications.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

3,222,696 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 A pad for seating consists basically of a platform 10, a pad of foamed resilient material 11 and a cover 12 for the platform 10 and the pad 11.

The platform 10 is produced as a unitary structure by a moulding and curing operation during which a sheet of uncured rubber is placed in a mould (the uncured rubber being of smaller dimensions than the mould) together with a plurality of metallic reinforcement members 13. The reinforcement members are conveniently of substantially U-shaped form, one arm of the U in the finished product is bent so as to have its free edge adjacent the other arm (which latter is provided with an outwardly extending flange 14) so as to provide a wedge shaped space into which rubber compound can flow during molding. The arms of the U are provided with aligned holes through which rubber can flow so as to form, together with the wedge shape, a very strong mechanical bond with the reinforcement members. In addition a chemical bond may be formed, with or without the use of a bonding agent. We have found that by careful choice of metal and rubber compound, that brass reinforcement members require no bonding agent and that due to interaction between the brass and the rubber compound a chemical bond is formed in addition to the mechanical bond.

The reinforcement members are located in the mould at the extremities of depressions which extend outwardly from the main depression in the mould. The outwardly extending depressions serve to define the shape and size of spaced-apart tongues 15 of the platform 10. The reinforcement members in the finished platform are substantially wholly encased by the rubber and in order to enable the platform 10 to be attached to a furniture frame metallic hooks 16 are secured to the tongues 15 through the latter and through one aligned pair of holes in the reinforcement member.

The platform is provided with spaced-apart holes or slits 17 and these are formed during moulding by providing projections in the mould depression.

The holes or slits 17 are so positioned as not to lie in any part of the platform which lies between any pair of tongues 15. By positioning the holes 17 in the manner specified the strength of the platform and its resilience is not adversely affected.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is provided a thin pad 11 of foamed material such as polyurethane, rubber, polyvinyl chloride or the like whose size is greater than the maximum dimensions of the platform 10 and tongues 15. This pad 11 is placed upon the platform and is covered by a sheet 12 of thermoplastic weldable material such as polyvinyl chloride. A similar sheet 18 is placed below the platform 10'. The sheet 18 is provided with slits 19 through which the tongues 15 can project. The peripheral regions of the two sheets are welded together as shown at 20 to form a cover which completely encases the pad 11 and platform 10, except for the tongues 15. In addition the two sheets 11 and 18 are welded together at positions 21 corresponding to the apertures 17 in the platform 10 so that a quilted effect is achieved on the surface of the unit. If the platform 10 is provided with slits a fluted effect can be achieved.

To attach the unit to the frame of an article of fumiture the hooks 16 are used. The difference in area of the platform 10 and the pad 11 is such that when the hooks 16 are attached to the framework thereby to tension the platform 10 the tongues 15 extend to or substantially to the edge of the pad 11. The tensioning of the platform serves also to tension the cover sheets 12 and 18 and increases the quilting or fiuting effect. In the case of a thin pad 11 the sheets 12 and 18 can be .3 welded through the pad 11 as shown, this is limited to a thickness of not more than about 4" when the pad is made from a non-thermoplastic material. As explained later when a non-thermoplastic pad is used welding is not practical, or in some cases possible in a pad of greater than A in thickness.

In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the platform 10 is provided with tongues 15 on two opposite sides only. In this case the pad 11 extends beyond the edges of the platform 10 but is shaped to follow the contour of the tongues 15. The sheets 12 and 18 are welded together between the tongues 15 and along the whole of the two sides of the platform upon which there are no tongues. As in the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2 the pad 11 is thin and consequently is not apertured to correspond with the holes 17 of the platform.

In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 there is provided a platform 10 identical to that of FIGS. 1 and 2 but in this case the thin pad 11 is replaced by a thick pad 22. The cover 12 in this case is vacuum formed to have depressions 23 at positions corresponding to the holes 17 in the platform 10 and the pad is apertured, as at 24, in positions corresponding to the holes 17. The sheet 18 in this case is slit at 19 to correspond with the tongues and the sheets 12 and 18 are welded together around their periphery and also in the positions of the holes 17 of the platform 10.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 the sheet 18 may be replaced by buttons 25 made from relatively stiff thermoplastic weldable material and these are welded to the sheet 12 at the positions of the holes 17 in the platform 10. In this case the sheet 12 is of such a size that its edges can be folded around the pad 11 to lie between it and the platform 10 and the turned under flap 26 is welded through the pad 11 to the upper surface of the sheet. If desired the outer edge of the pad may be provided with a reinforcement such as a beading.

The invention is not restricted to the details given in the above embodiments. For example, and as shown in FIG. 9, the edge of the pad, whether it is thick or thin, can be reinforced with a wire beading or other stiff member 27 located between the closely positioned welds 28 at the edge of the sheets 12 and 18.

In a still further modification the two sheets 12 and 18 could be welded together on three sides and turned so that the weld is innermost prior to placing in the envelope so formed, the pad 11 and the platform 10. The fourth side of the envelope would then be welded to close it and retain the pad and platform in place. The two sheets 12 and 18 would then be welded at the positions of the holes 17 in the platform 10. Again either a thick or a thin pad may be provided.

It should also be borne in mind that, although substantially U-shaped reinforcing members have been referred to these may be replaced by other forms of reinforcement. For example, a rod-like member could be moulded into the platform at the extremities of the tongues, such an arrangement is described in my co-pending application for Letters Patent of Great Britain No. 1,584/62 dated January 16, 1962, which corresponds to US. application Ser. No. 251,922 filed January 16, 1963.

It is also possible to provide means for adjusting the tension in the platform in the manner described in my co-pending application for Letters Patent of Great Britain No. 18,570/62 dated May 15, 1962, or the corresponding United States application Ser. No. 280,320, filed May 14, 1963.

In a still further modification, as shown in FIG. 10, there may be a layer 11 of foamed material on each side of the platform 10 in which case the pad would be reversible. In this case the cover sheets 12 would be welded at positions between the tongues 15 of the platform.

The size, shape and thickness of the unit may be varied to suit any particular requirements as may the positioning of the tongues, and their members. The cover may be of plain, coloured or patterned material and may be embossed or otherwise decorated.

In yet a further modification the tongues initially project beyond the edge of the pad. In a still further modification the tongues are dispensed with and the reinforcing members are moulded into the platform at spaced intervals around its periphery.

I claim:

1. A seating pad comprising, a unitary moulded, resilient platform having a series of spaced apart tongues formed integrally along at least two opposite sides thereof, and projecting outwardly therefrom, rigid reinforcing members moulded within said tongues, said tongues and members being adapted to be provided with attachment hooks for attachment to a furniture unit, said platform having openings therethrough, a pad of foamed material on the top surface of said platform, a sheet of thermoplastic material extending over the top surface of said pad opposite to said platform and extending around the edges of said pad of foamed material to enclose the latter, and other thermoplastic material located on the under surface of said platform, said sheet of said thermoplastic material and said other thermoplastic material being welded together by heat sealing through said openings in said platform.

2. A seating pad as claimed in claim 1 in which the platform is initially of such a size that the tongues lie within the boundary of the pad, and the tongues when the pad is attached under tension to the framework of said furniture unit extending to the edges of the pad.

3. A seating pad as claimed in claim 1 in which there are two sheets of polyvinyl chloride material, a first sheet lying below the platform relative to the pad, and a second sheet extending over the pad to overlie the edge regions of the first sheet, the two sheets being welded together at least around that part of the platform between the tongues.

4. A seating pad as claimed in claim 3 in which the sheets of material are welded around the whole of their periphery, the sheet lying below the platform being slit to give access to said tongues.

5. A seating pad as claimed in claim 1 in which the sheet of material overlies the edges of the pad and has its free edges located between the pad and the platform and welded to the sheet through said platform, said other thermoplastic material comprising individual, relatively rigid buttons to which the sheet material is welded through said openings in said platform.

6. A seating pad as claimed in claim 1 in which the pad is thick and has openings therethrough which register with said openings in said platform, said sheet material being shaped to have depressions located in said pad openings, said sheet material being welded to said other thermoplastic material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,024,068 3/ 1962 Eames 297455 3,037,766 6/1962 Berg 297458 3,081,131 3/1963 Brueder 297-455 3,109,679 11/1963 Eames 297458 3,113,326 12/1963 Hyde et al. 5354 3,114,575 12/1963 Eames et al. 297454 3,116,569 1/1964 Kramer 5354 3,179,469 4/1964 Heuston 297452 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,328,801 4/ 1963 France. 1,062,408 10/ 1952 Germany.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SENSING PAD COMPRISING, A UNITARY MOULDED, RESILIENT PLATFORM HAVING A SERIES OF SPACED APART TONGUES FORMED INTEGRALLY ALONG AT LEAST TWO OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, AND PROJECTING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM, RIGID REINFORCING MEMBERS MOULDED WITIN SAID TONGUES, SAID TONGUES AND MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO BE PROVIDED WITH ATTACHMENT HOOKS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A FURNITURE UNIT, SAID PLATFORM HAVING OPENINGS THERETHROUGH, A PAD OF FOAMED MATERIAL ON THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID PLATFORM, A SHEET OF THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL EXTENDING OVER THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID PAD OPPOSITE TO SAID PLATFORM AND EXTENDING AROUND THE EDGES OF SAID PAD OF FOAMED MATERIAL TO ENCLOSE THE LATTER, AND OTHER THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL LOCATED ON THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID PLATFORM, SAID SHEET OF SAID THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL AND SAID OTHER THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL BEING WELDED TOGETHER BY HEAT SEALING THROUGH SAID OPENINGS IN SAID PLATFORM. 